For the Montreal Canadiens, their famous C-H crest can not suddenly translate to Complacent Hockey.

That would be a natural hazard for a giddy team many thought would be gone by the time the Eastern Conference final rolled around. A team that knocked off the regular season champion Bruins in seven games — the most intense of any series this spring — and now enjoys home ice against a New York Rangers club with a less daunting lineup, at least on paper.

But a 24-hour break on Friday helped ground the Canadiens in playoff reality.

“If we’re still focused on that (Boston) series, we’re sadly mistaken,” defenceman P.K. Subban said ahead of Game 1 at the Bell Centre on Saturday afternoon. “That series is over. I don’t think we’ve accomplished what we want yet. You can’t afford to be complacent in the playoffs.

“We have a chance to do something special as a team, but they have, too.”

With the brash Subban buying in, give the Canadiens points for maturity at the halfway mark of what would be the franchise’s first Stanley Cup in 21 years. Coach Michel Therrien hopes the rest of his troops realize that they must keep shovelling coal into that emotional locomotive that won them Games 6 and 7.

“That was a good accomplishment for our team against Boston, but let me tell you, they (Rangers) had a great accomplishment against Pittsburgh,” Therrien said. “I pay a lot of attention to the Rangers and they were phenomenal. This will be a hell of a challenge for us. You look in the standings and there only was a four-point difference between us and them (in the final standings).”

While there were stark differences between the Bruins and Canadiens in terms of roster makeup, many see the Rangers as a mirror image of the Habs, right down to a French-Canadian head coach who used to work here. That makes handicapping the series tough.

“I’ve played for Alain Vigneault (in Vancouver),” Montreal fourth- liner Dale Weise said. “He’s very thorough, especially in the playoffs. They will have video on every single aspect of our team.”

Based on Vigneault’s detailed assesments, Montreal should be the favourite in the series, which brought a belly laugh from Therrien.

“The favourite ... that’s a media game,” he said. “You go in the New York papers, they’re the favourite. In the Montreal papers, we’re the favourite. I’m not paying attention to that. My only focus today was meeting with the players and (concentrating) on tomorrow’s game.”

As with Boston’s Tuukka Rask, Habs goalie Carey Price will have a worthy opponent in Henrik Lundqvist. Yet, Lundqvist’s previous struggles at the Bell Centre were a hot topic on Friday, starting with his record, an eyebrow raising 4-5-2 with a save percentage of .876.

“That can change in one period,” warned forward Max Pacioretty, shut out in two games against Lundqvist this year. “We have to jump on him early, but he’s a world-class goalie and all that mental block stuff can change with one big save in Game 1.”